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Thursday, January 14, 2016

Treading into the Devils Domain

It’s not always for
the faint of heart or spiritually unprotected, but there are opportunities to
venture into the devil’s domain, praying (even if silently) and reaching out to
the unsuspecting victims frequenting his lair. Shouting out warnings or pushing Christianity
on the uninterested has a high failure rate, but extending love and friendship
has many successes.

Praying in
front of an abortion clinic and doing sidewalk counseling is such an activity. So is setting up a booth with models of unborn
babies at a college “Sextravagenza” event, or giving gifts and food to
strippers with a business card slipped in offering Christian friendship.

Sidewalk
Counselor Prays with Abortion Facility Owner

My Dad, now
90 years old, led a prayer group in front of a now-closed (yay!) abortion
facility in Dearborn, Michigan for many years.Whenever there was a problem--such as a parking issue or not liking
where the protestors were standing—the owner went to my Dad.He was always friendly, respectful, and kind.
After several years of their cordial
encounters, my Dad, who also brought Holy Communion to patients at two
hospitals, came across her as a patient one morning. Surprisingly, she had identified
herself as Catholic.

Although my
Dad did not offer her Communion, he stopped by and chatted.He also left her a pamphlet on Divine
Mercy.The next day when he was there
again, the owner’s daughter called to my Dad when she spotted him in the
hallway.“The cleaning woman must have
accidentally thrown away the pamphlet you left,” she explained.“My mom wants to know if you can give her
another one?”

He
immediately went to her room, gave her another pamphlet and asked her if she
would like him to pray with her.She said
yes and they prayed together, although the daughter appeared less than
enthused.Soon afterwards the clinic was
sold and several years later, it closed.We don’t know anything further on the former owner, but it certainly appeared
very promising that she would turn to the mercy of Jesus.

Saving
Strippers

Erin Stevens of Tennessee found a
way to reach out to strippers. Her foot
in the door is to feed them a catered dinner twice a month, and give them Mary
Kay Cosmetics gift sets and then slip her phone number into their hands.One former stripper said she felt like “Maybe
Jesus would have hung out with me.”

In
a USA Today article, former strippers explained that they came to
understand that Christians were not their enemies.And Stevens
had felt God telling her that “Strippers are not your enemy, they're your
mission field.” Before beginning three years ago, she fasted and prayed for 21
days fasting.

One of the women that Stevens helped out of the
stripping business, Katherine Holland, has gotten her associates degree in
criminal justice and instead of stripping, is leading a Bible study group about
practical ways to love your enemy.

Showing up at Sextravaganza

Around 10
years ago, Gerri Laird received a call from Grace Harris, a senior at George
Mason University in Virginia.The school
was planning a “Sextravaganza” day with all the usual degrading displays
promoting sex for recreation, abortion, and then offering testing for sexually
transmitted diseases after all the fun.

Grace received
permission from the college to set up an educational booth promoting the
positive aspects of chastity and marriage. She also wanted to include a display of the
developmental stages of unborn babies. Although there was initially some hesitancy,
Grace successfully convinced them that she would not in any way disrupt the
event.

Then, Grace
called Gerri who worked at the Family Life Office in Arlington, Virginia at the
time, asking for brochures and to borrow
some of the soft rubber fetal models.

On the day
of Sextravaganza, Gerri ventured into the auditorium to see just how Grace was
faring.Surprisingly, rather than being
stuck in some dark corner, Grace’s booth was prominently located at the very
center of the room. “It had the most students—around a dozen at the time—far
more than any other booth,” Gerri said during and interview for this
article.“Grace had laid each baby out
separately in a baby blanket,” she explained. “Guys would pick and hold the 20
week baby and girls would take it and show them how to do it.”Gerry said she heard only positive comments
such as students saying: “I didn’t know
babies were this developed at that stage.”She learned from Grace that it had been like that throughout the day,
with small crowds gathering and even a few faculty members.

After the
event, Grace told Gerri that many people she knew approached her on campus,
thanking her for being there. “All the comments she received were positive,”
Gerri said.

Grace had
avoided anything political and only had promoted the truth about the beauty of
marriage and chastity with posters, brochures and the baby models. “That’s the
beauty of the truth,” Gerri said. “Our
church definitely has that right so we can stand on the truth. We have a lot to offer.”

These three
brief stories are simply small examples of ways people have brought God’s love
and truth to others.As Christians, we
are expected to shine our light and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Dear God, show us the ways in which you want
us to spread your Gospel message to others.Help us to be open to your plan for us and give us the grace and
understanding to follow it.

Alexander House

Patti Maguire Armstrong

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